Premium Content Comes in a Variety of Models

October 25, 2007

High School Musical Sucks My son started an informal club at his elementary school. They meet during recess over their mutual dislike for High School Musical. At the beginning of the year, there were only 3 members.

But this week, membership increased by around 300%. Why? My son introduced membership cards to the club.

These cards, handwritten on lined index cards, are now a hot ticket item on the playground. This same playground has been the scene of bullying activities against my son in the past.

Maybe you’ve heard that premium content is dead. But it’s not. Let’s take High School Musical. You must have cable to watch the movie on TV. Then there’s millions of dollars in merchandise, fueled by the fluttering hearts of tween-aged girls who can’t resist the charm of Zac Efron. Not to be outdone is concerts, the stage version of the movie, and coming this winter: Disney on Ice: High School Musical.

The only thing that is free is the website (which has some serious usability issues).

It’s tempting to think that we can throw blogs, e-zines, or other free content models and hope that some well-placed Adsense or Affiliate Marketing ads will bring us a passive fortune while we’re jet-setting around the world. You’ve probably seen e-books and training programs boasting that they can teach you how. However, many people who are successful in these arenas are making much more through paid content models.

Add in the fickleness of Google and the onset of social media and conversation marketing, it’s more important than ever to be connected, stay connected, and maximize a variety of content models.

Free content is a means to an end, not the end itself. Sell yourself tall by offering quality content at a premium price.

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